LogFAQs > #881971060

Kungfu Kenobi posted...

Either is a better choice than FPTP so this isn't that complicated.

I don't disagree, but in these arguments perfect tends to be the enemy of good. I'd have been content with ranked ballots, even if PropRep is the plainly better choice, but the Liberals would not have had a scrap of support from the opposition if they'd tried to push that through (and they likely would have been punished at the ballots for it, so it's not surprising they backed down).

The problem is there's so much naked partisanship wrapped up in this question that it's impossible to have a discussion at the parliamentary level that doesn't sound nakedly power-hungry. It's no coincidence that each party is arguing for the system that gives them the most power while paying lip-service to the idea that it's being done with the voters in mind. The Conservatives know that 60-70% of Canadians are left-wing or centre-left and the imbalances inherent in FPTP are the only way they can ever hope to form government as a result, so of course they support the status quo. Ranked ballots consolidate power in the political middle, so of course the centrist Liberals are in support of it - they might never lose another election if they'd succeeded in passing it (and even as a Liberal supporter I think that's a bad thing). And Proportional Representation grants the most power to smaller political parties, so naturally that's what the NDP and the Greens support, because it's pretty much their only reliable path to being in government, albeit as part of a coalition.

This whole thing should have been taken out of the politicians' hands and handled by an independent committee, which it looked like they were doing until they decided to just ignore the outcome/recommendations presented.
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